Bible Discussion Thread

INTRODUCTION TO MATTHEW (Part 2)

Matthew was one of the 12 Apostles. In Matthew 10:3, we have the record of Matthew being called out from the disciples to be one of the original 12 Apostles.

NOW FOR MATTHEW'S GOSPEL:

WHEN IT WAS WRITTEN:

It was written in the late 60's AD. Here are some things that are important to know:

LINK TO OTHER BOOKS:

Out of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Mark was written first. It is the shortest of the gospels. But it is interesting that out of the 661 verses in Mark, Matthew has 500 of them, almost word for word. It shows that Matthew was following Mark's Gospel as a template for his writings.

So, Mark wrote his first, Matthew second, and then Luke. And if you've ever read the introduction to Luke (the first four verses of Chapter 1), Luke says he has collected all the writings that he could find in order to write his gospel.

So, Luke had Matthew, he had Mark, and he had all the different writings from the different witnesses and the different people who were with Christ. So, he wrote his gospel, and out of the synoptic gospels, Luke's was written third and was written last.

Now the purpose for the Synoptic Gospels was to present a certain side of Jesus to a certain group of people. To the Jews they were presented the Messiah. To the Roman mind, the Servant, God who came as a Servant to die for our sins. And then Luke, his gospel was for the Gentiles.

We find a lot of literature in Matthew. This is very important because some pull verses out of Matthew that are not found in the other gospels, and they apply it incorrectly to Christians today because what you find in Matthew, you don't find anywhere else. It's because Matthew wrote them uniquely for the Jews. Ten parables in Matthew are not found anywhere else because they were written to the Jews. And we have to understand that from a Jewish perspective, not from a culture of the Gentiles. So, it is very important to understand how all these books function in their purpose.